Miniature golf game



l. M. sNYDER 2,478,949

MINIATURE GOLI` GAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/l /l Aug. -16, 1949.

Filed Nov. 2o, 1944 au o ap@ l /nv/zor' armi/1. Snyder www y,

Aug. 16,v 14949. l. M. sNYDr-:R 2,478,949

A MINIATURE GOLF'GAME Filed NOV. 20, 1944 4 Sheets-SheerI 2 E m mk l1 Parr G/EEEN 0A/N750 y A wss LM 4 my M ,o4/rr 32 /3 F/6..5. F/6`.4. /M f V l /h Venor van M. Snyder *GL-4W A y S Aug. 16, 1949. M, SNYDER 2,478,949

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aride@ 3 labeled Approach The fairway strips I1 to 25 each include a tee portion 30 on one end and a green portion 3l on the other end, but the putting, as will soon appear, is done on a large circular putting green 32 provided on the central portion of the board, this one green being common to all nine holes and including a center hole, or cup, 33 of a size bearing, of course, the proper relationship to the size of the steel ball I5: used for putting.

I prefer to have the ball I5 larger in rdiameterY than the hole 33 so that it can be putted more easily and can be picked up easily when it is in the hole. The fairway strips I1 to 25 also include areas marked Traps, as indicated at 34, and these cooperate with segments 35 in the charts 21 marked Trap, and a player using a spinner 26 for a wood shot and having it stop at the segment 35 marked Trap will advance his player token 36 (Fig. 2) to the nearest trap in a forward direction from wherever his token may be set at the time, whether it be on a tee 30 or onone of the various sections 31 marked Brassie The approach charts 29 alsoinclude segments 38 marked Trap In fact, there are two such segments in each of these charts as compared with only one such segment 35 in the charts 21 for wood shots, on the theory that the greens are usually trapped even where the fairways are more or less clear of such hazards, and a player in making an approach shot toward the green is more apt to land in a trap than he is when making a wood shot. A player using a spinner 28 will in the event it stops on a segment 38 marked Trap advance his player token 36 to the nearest trap, whether he be on the tee for the second and sixth holes at the time or in any one of the fairway sections 39 marked Approach The fairway sections 31 and 39 are marked off for 50-yard intervals, a 40G-yard hole, like hole No. 8, having seven of these sections in addition to the tee portion 30, and the green portion 3l being counted as the last fty yards, a G-yard hole, like hole No. 2, having three sections 39 in addition to the green section 3|, and so on for the various holes. Chance determines only the number of strokes or plays required for a player to advance his player token 36 onto the green 3l, and at that point the player is required to exercise skill in holing out, using the steel ball I5 and putter I6 for the putts, In that way this game bears a much closer resemblance to the outdoor game of golf, wherein it has become a common slogan to drive for show and putt for dough-meaning that the decision is left to putting. Invariably most championships are determined just that way in the actual outdoor game. The putting green 32 is preferablyv a disk of green felt, or billiard cloth, having a circular strip 40 marked off near its outer margin labeled Long putt and another concentric circular strip 4I marked off at about half the radial distance from the hole 33 labeled Short putt. This is for the purpose of determining where the player shall spot his steel ball I5 for putting. The approach charts 29 have segments 42 labeled On long putt and other segments 43 labeled On short putt, but there are eleven of the long putt segments 42 as compared with only two short putt segments 43, on the theory that the average golfer leaves himself a fairly long putt in approaching most greens in about that ratio as compared to the number of times he approaches close to the hole. From the standpoint of the present game, a long putt is considered one in which the player possessing a fair degree of skill should be able to hole out in two putts, and a short putt is one which a player of the same skill should be able to hole outinone shot. Of course, a player who develops a good putting stroke using the miniature putter I6 will occasionally hole out a long putt in one putt, and there again he can, as he is accustomed to doing in the outdoor game, make up by good putting for what he might term tough luck out on the fairway, and whereas he should have gotten on the green in the regulation two strokes on a 4-par hole and holed out in two more strokes for a par-4, it is possible with the present combination to get a par-4 even though he has taken three strokes to reach the green and has left himself a long putt. It is apparent, therefore, to what a close extent the present game resembles the outdoor game and to what a close extent the 'element of skill present in the outdoor game has been carried into this game, to lend interest for young and old alike.

There is one segment 44 on each of the approach charts 29 marked Hole out, and a player using a spinner 28 for his approach shot and having it stop on this segment 44 is considered to have holed out his approach shot. This segment 44 should not be of as large included angle as the other segments in these charts, but has been s0 illustrated only for better illustration and for easier lettering. These segments should be in the range of from one-quarter to one-half the included angle of any one of the other segments, in order thereby to correspondingly reduce the chances of a player holing out and accordingly more closely resemble the players chances in the outdoor game in that respect.

In playing the game, one, two, or more players can play at a time, the same as in the outdoor game of golf. If there are four playing, as in a foursome, each player will use a player token 36, and these may be colored differently in order to distinguish the players on the tees and along the fairway strips. In starting the game, having suitably determined the order in which the players will drive oil the first tee, the first player spins a spinner 26 for his wood shot. If the spinner stops on the segment 45 marked 10U-yards, or 200- yards, or 25o-yards, he will place his player token 36 on the section 3l, or 39, for the yardage indicated. Thus for hole No. 1 anything up to 150- yards leaves that player in a fairway section 31 marked Brassie, so that his next shot must be played using the same spinner 26 for a wood shot. If he gets 200 yards or 250 yards on his rst spin or shot, he places his player token 36 on the appropriate fairway section for the yardage indicated, and these sections are marked Approach, and in such an event that player for his second shot uses one of the spinners 2S for an approach. If the spinner stops on the 15G-yard indication, this would necessitate the player using the wood shot spinner 26 again for his next shot, and should he on his next shot get 250 yards, this would mean a total of 400 yards for the two shots, placing the player token 36 on the green 3l at the end of the fairway strip. In that event the player is considered as having landed on the green, and will place his steel ball on the green 32 for a long putt, without using the approach spinner 28. Afterthe first player has taken his shot, the other players take their shots in the order agreed upon, and thereafter the shots will be taken in thev order determined by the location of the player tokens on the fairway strips, similarly as is the custom in the play along a fairway in the outdoor aeeeesaf keep ...t pensi j .etzaeidenbei dispiaee I 31e-fari use eslenatedf per-ii.

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to ma 4 spinner 2.6.-there being-...two .tnapfseemente in...tnegchart29;.= Itiafur .erfgentirelyffpns ihleo such sa ,playerf toluseitwei Qraevenrthreeest es getti-ng.. cutioitl-1e..tranfu becauseitheispi neri-f2- may-conceivablystonagain 'onlaiftrap'si-fsegmeu on-thecnext{suceeedrlgspin-oiespins.l In thafufw. f the element or chance, which is of course, .fp esen initheloutdoongame 1oifgolf.; hasibeen-reteined th-islgame itc Athe correct; percentageJ .sommation parefifhole. like y.(hole. Nea, 1f;A alplafyen willonlyeo casionally. land: on1 .thei green i in etwa ,strokesia then 7.will usuallyahayel-a,lorigaputtfleftwhichwi usnallyareqnireitwn.. or even.three,-strokes .taihQleaiQa out; .Theielernent o f s1cill';Wl-1ih'sip1.=5enttQSllQhl..

a largerextenteinithe puttingintm outdoorg er. has, therefore, been retained in this...-g.2fme4159=r makeaitimo-ra interesting for everyone playing it. Assuming the fourA players have completed'the first hole with -twdpahfsandtwbgbogie-5s, the iwppleyers having perSfWll-...Shqet irstp 2 tee, and the two players havingzds; i dshtcpif@` next. The sepndholebeingan,approaph hole, the approach yspinners '218'V are used-Tor` the tee 50- shots. Here again the possibility of landingfirgfg.A a tran.likenhatinfliaiedt Meiarpresenii-.aed

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isrequently;called.upontolholeidutslong puttseto Y i L .53 5.; make up for trouble on the fairways. The 65 ear;M spteggjg n M m agrega, agg. average player will usually score in the forties, including tees, fairways and hazards over wh'c and a close resemblance to the scoring in the outand to a specific point on a green a play piece of door game is found will prevail. each contestant and representative of a golf ball is advanced by chance means, a single putting Where the players desire to make the game more difficult, an undulated green, like that indi- 70 surface constituting the aforesaid green and becated at 41, may be provided, .this being in the ing common to all of the plurality of golf holes form of a, disk 48 that may be superimposed on and being of enlarged dimensions relative to the the green 32. A ferrule 49 having the same inside width of any of the fairways of said holes and of diameter in its upper portion as the hole 33 and an area representing a large fraction of the whole the same outside diameter in its lower portion 75 area of the playing surface of the board, said 7 green being provided with a hole to receive a min'- iature ball rolled on and over said green and into said hole, the surface of said green being provided with undulations whereby a ball may smoothly roll over the same yet making the passage of the ball over the green and into the hole more diilcult of attainment.

3. A table-type miniature golf game apparatus playable by a combination of chance and skill comprising in combination, a board providing a playing surface having thereon the representation of a plurality of miniature sized golf holes each specifically dilerent in layout and each including tees, fairways, and hazards over which and to a specific point on a green a play piece of each contestant and representative of a golf ball is advanced by chancemeans, a-single puttingsurface constituting the aforesaid green and being common to all of the plurality of golf holes and Vbeing of enlarged dimensions relative to the width of any of the fairways of said holes and of an area representing a large fraction of thewhole area of the playing surface of the board, said green being provided with a hole to receive a miniature ball rolled on and over said green and into said hole; said green being provided on its surface with undulations, and the green beingdivided into segments the surface contour-s of which diier in respect to one another.

4. A table-type miniature golf game apparatus playable by a combination of chance and skill comprising in combination, a board providing a playing surface having thereon the representation of 'a plurality of miniature sized golf holes each specifically different in layout and each including tees, fairways, and hazards over which and to a specific point on a green a play piece of each contestant and representative of ra golf ball is advanced by chance means, a single putting surface constituting the aforesaid green and being common to all of the plurality of golf holes and being of enlarged dimensions relative to the width of any of the fairways of said holes and of an area representing a large fraction of the whole area of the playing surface of the board, said green being provided with a hole to receive a miniature ball rolled on and over said green land into said hole, said green being provided in its surface with undulations, said green being divided into segments the surface contours of which differ in respect to one another, and said green being mounted on the board for rotation in a horizontalplane to permit presentation of the same green contour to a contestant irrespective of the contestants location about the board.

5. YA table-type miniature golf game apparatus playable by .la combination of chance and skill comprising in combination, a board providing `a playing surface having thereon the representation of a plurality of miniature sized golf tees, fairways,and hazards over which and to a specific point on a green a play piece of each contestant and representative of a golf ball is advanced by chance means, a single putting surface constituting the aforesaid green and being commonto all of the plurality of golf holes and being of enlarged dimensions relative to the width of any of the fairways of said holes and of an area representing a large fraction of the whole area of the playing surface of the board, said green being provided with a hole to receive a miniature ball rolled on and over said green and into said hole, the surface of said green having a plurality of segments each provided with an undulating surface, the surface contours of said segments dilering in respect to one another, indicia on each segment for indicating the position from which a ball is to be rolled over the green and into the hole, and said green being mounted on the board for rotation in a horizontal plane to permit the positioning of any of said indicia to a contestant irrespective of the position of the contestant about the board.

6. A table-type miniature golf game apparatus playable by a combination of chance and skill comprising in combination, a board providing a playing surface having thereon the representation of a plurality of miniature sized golf holes each specifically different in layout and each including tees, fairways and hazards over which and to a specific point on a green 'a play piece of each contestant and representative of a golf ball is advanced by chance means, a single putting surface constituting the aforesaid green and being common to all of the plurality of golf holes and being of enlarged dimensions relative to the width of any of the fairways of said holes and of an area representing fa large fraction of the whole area of the playing surface of the board, said green being provided with a hole to receive a miniature ball rolled on and over said green and into said hole, and said green being marked with concentric circles struck with the hole as the center and indicating the placements of the miniature ball for short and longer distances the ball must be rolled into the hole by any contestant irrespective of the position of the contestant about the board.

IVAN M. SNYDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date "596,556 Tyng Jan. 4, 1898 731,825 Voorhees June 23, 1903 1,052,771 Totten Feb. 11, 1913 1,429,656 Stonebridge Sept. 19, 1922 1,553,027 Brown Sept. 8, 1925 1,656,936 Beal Jan. 24, 1928 1,741,224 Clark Dec. 31, 1929 1,781,230 Hill Nov. 11, 1930 2,180,049 Hall Nov. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 180,772 Great Britain July 8, 1922 

